THE NATION.

Atlanta neighborhood `tore down hell, built heaven'

April 13, 2003|By David Pendered, Knight Ridder/Tribune: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Teacher Eddie Johnson bobs and weaves between the desks of his third-graders, his quick moves keeping his pupils' attention on him as he delivers their math lesson.

Fractions are the topic of the morning. The youngsters' beaming faces and mostly correct answers show they are on top of the subject. Soon it's time for lunch, and some children who answered tough questions get the honor of eating with their teacher.

The classroom activities seem completely normal. Which is what makes the scene noteworthy.

This is East Lake, once a violent no-man's land in Atlanta. Now its public housing project and related developments are a national model for replacing pockets of hopeless poverty with mixed-income communities built with public and private investment.

East Lake's turnaround could not be more dramatic.

Just a decade ago, East Lake was regularly in the news as the site of shootings, assaults and drug busts. Dealers based in the former housing project called East Lake Meadows peddled drugs worth an estimated $35 million a year, according to a private foundation at work in the community.

In those days, youngsters tended to learn more about survival than math. Single mothers tutored their children on how to hide in a closet when gunshots rang out. Gangsters taught boys to deal drugs and lured girls into prostitution.

Today, East Lake's crime scene is following a typical pattern in urban revitalization: Violent crime is down and property crime is up as newcomers bring things worth stealing. The shabby brick housing project is replaced with garden apartments where reduced rates are reserved for those with low incomes while middle-class residents pay up to $1,425 a month for four bedrooms.

The forlorn Drew Elementary School, a fortress with almost no windows, was razed and a shiny charter school erected. A full-service YMCA is attached to the new Drew, and an adjacent public golf course serves duffers and 700 school-age Tiger Woods wannabes.

"We tore down hell and built heaven," says Eva Davis, former head of the East Lake tenant association who has agitated for improvements since 1971. On her coffee table is a photograph of her and a former president with the handwritten inscription: "To Eva Davis -- Thanks for your leadership for change at East Lake. Jimmy Carter. 8/96."

By all accounts, East Lake is a vortex of urban redevelopment largely because criminals have been dispersed. The new residents of subsidized housing in the Villages of East Lake will be evicted if they break laws, don't pay rent on time or don't maintain the property.

"That had to happen before East Lake could be revitalized," says Miles Bondurant, an Atlanta native and East Lake resident.

"When I bought my house, I was working for a federal judge who was a former prosecutor, and he was stunned I had bought a house here. [The revitalization] really brought a lot of pride back into the neighborhood that wasn't there when drugs were so prevalent, and that has energized a lot of people."

The historically black community is bordered by hot neighborhoods including East Atlanta, Kirkwood and Decatur. All around East Lake are the signs of pioneers moving in and spending freely to renovate the decaying homes and yards. Trendy shops and restaurants are opening in old storefronts retrofitted to meet the needs of neighbors with disposable incomes.

Just two miles from East Lake, a debate is raging over one of Atlanta's most controversial development proposals, which will affect traffic in East Lake.

The mixed-use project near Little Five Points by Sembler Co. would provide nearly 300 homes and about 1,600 jobs at four national retailers and more than 50 small shops and restaurants.

Advocates, including East Lake's neighborhood association, say the project would provide much-needed stores stocked with everyday needs. East Lake has very little retail and, except for a Publix grocery, not much to entice the new residents.

Critics say the development is just too big and that the shoppers it attracts would overwhelm their tranquil streets.

"East Lake is primarily a residential district, not a business district," says Bondurant, president of the East Lake Neighbors Community Association and a manager at Worldspan. "East Lake has no misconceptions about becoming like downtown, Virginia Highland, Poncey Highland or East Atlanta."

Bondurant moved to East Lake five years ago this month. He and his wife found the neighborhood to be filled with friendly people and a sense of community lacking in their apartment complex near the corner of North Avenue and Peachtree Street.

He intends to continue working to improve the neighborhood and create programs designed to help elderly neighbors maintain their homes.

"We're trying to prevent a situation where we drive people out of their homes because of rising home values," he says.

The association also is encouraging business owners to upgrade their shops and carry products to serve the new residents.